Call for Cayetano’s resignation does not represent FSOs: DFA

MANILA (Philippines News Agency) — Responding to the clamor of career service officials for Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano to resign, the agency on Wednesday night claimed the supposed letter bearing the call does not represent the views of the entire career Foreign Service Corps.

A Philippine daily on Wednesday published an article, citing DFA career diplomats who asked Cayetano and his appointees to resign based on the way the diplomatic tiff with Kuwait was handled.

The resignation call was attributed to unnamed DFA officials who drafted and sent a letter to Malacañang.

The DFA said that the Union of Foreign Service Officers (UNIFORS), an organization representing the DFA career corps, has been inactive.

It added that any position, statement or letter from the group would have to be circulated to the membership and signed by its leadership.

“Career officials remain committed to the highest standard of professionalism and patriotism,” the DFA said in a statement sent by Office of Public Diplomacy Acting Director Geronimo Siliguin.

“Under the guidance of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, the career foreign service corps can be counted upon to pursue the President’s vision of an independent foreign policy,” it added.

While the involved diplomats did not refer to the UNIFORS as the letter’s origin, the news item indicated the appeal was sent to President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

The DFA, however, belied this, saying “the Office of the President has not seen such letter.”

Meanwhile, when asked if the letter did exist, Suliguin did not to comment.

“We are not saying there is an actual letter because neither the Department nor Malacañang has seen it. What we were saying was in response to the claims in the alleged letter that were cited in the article,” he said. (PNA)

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